It’s the club people are dying to get into.
Brooklyn’s largest graveyard will welcome a select group of visitors through its southern-most gate for the first in a series of late-night performances this weekend. Members of “The Secret Mausoleum Club,” starting May 27 at Green-Wood Cemetery, will sip drinks, listen to music, and step inside some classic crypts while hearing stories about those buried on the grounds. The new, bi-monthly performance series is designed to introduce more people burial place’s illustrious past, said the cemetery’s programming manager.
“Secret mausoleum clubs have been around for a long time and only a select number of members could come into the cemetery to discover mausoleums because they’ve not been open to public,” said Harry Weil. “We are opening this to a larger audience because this type of experience is a great way to discover history. It’s also a way for history to come alive and learn more about the people buried there.”
The first session will open two of Green-Wood’s mausoleums for a celebration of figures in amusement park history, featuring musical performances and dances, along with some stories
“There won’t be re-enactments but there will be a retelling of stories,” he said. “The history is important to this, and recounting the history of those buried.”
The night will also feature an open bar provided by the Sea Witch Tavern in Greenwood Heights, which will also host an after-party for members.
Because of the warm forecast for this weekend’s show, all performances will happen outdoors.
Visitors are encouraged to dress in cocktail and vintage summer looks, but this is not a Halloween event, said Weil.
“We try to distance from that because it’s important that we never do ghost theme tours — we are still a working cemetery, and we respect the space of the buried and try not to make fun of it,” he said. “Things like Halloween play into the stereotypes.”
Weil says that those who enjoy an evening of dance and music in the boneyard make walk away with a different perspective on the space.
“I think when people leave they won’t have the same stereotypes about cemeteries being dark and creepy,” said Weil.
The cemetery will welcome guests back for more Secret Mausoleum Club events in July, September, and November. And another series of lower-key, literally underground music events called “Concerts in the Catacombs” will begin on June 15 and continue every month in the summer.
The Secret Mausoleum Club at Green-Wood Cemetery [Fort Hamilton Parkway and Micieli Place in Kensington, (718) 768–7300, www.green
